The Rib Vaults of Durham Cathedral

Abstract

The original high vaults in the choir of Durham Cathedral seem to have been the first with ribs. The arrangement was six-part. However, at the tribune level the shafts would have supported a four-part vault in the choir and a wooden ceiling in the transepts. The changes to the disposition we have today may have resulted from the employment of three different builders in the tribune zone. The replacement of the six-part vaults in the choir may have resulted from structural instability in the flattened diagonal ribs. The vaults were laid out in the manner of groin vaults, with ribs set into the cells as they were being laid, layer by layer. The rib was an aid to construction; it was not seen at the outset as having a structural function. The documents and the identification of the building campaigns help to date each of the vaults and the chevron patterns.